Is He precious to me?

I have one of those flip Bible verse things in my bathroom that I read in the mornings doing my make-up, hair, brushing my teeth, or whatever else...

This morning God used it to speak ever so softly to my soul.

This verse was out of James and it talks about counting it joy when we face trials...(James 1:2,3)

I promise you as someone who has faced and is facing hard times, people love to tell me this verse as encouragement.

I don't mean to sound rude in any way but when you are facing the trials (or have been in the midst of a hard trial for years) it can get really old.

You think to yourself, "How do I find joy in this?"
What does "count it all joy..." even mean?

Well, it has taken me a while to understand what I believe God has said to me through this verse.

I haven't necessarily found "joy" as in happiness.

However, I HAVE found more of Him.

He brings me joy....in the midst of these still very hard days.
He helps me to count my blessings in the midst of sorrow and hardship.
I will even count my blessings and call them out loud....isn't that counting my joy?

I have rambled past what I really wanted to post...sorry I tend to do that.

Anyway this was the quote that was under my scripture this morning and I loved it for those of us who are still waiting for God's "yes" to be visible to our eyes.

"Sometimes God says, 'Wait'. When He does, His intent is always that He would become more precious to you during the waiting than if He had said 'Yes' immediately."

So many days I have wished that God's "yes" would just hurry up and happen. So many days I wish that we didn't have to endure and persevere and hold on through seemingly impossible odds.

However this quote has proven quite true in my life....just as He knew it would.

As I have had to wait....I have had to also learn to trust Him blindly.
As I have had to wait...I have given myself more to Him.
As I have had to wait....He has become more precious indeed.